Steven
07-01-2019, 07:12
A mixed bag of draws for the Brits in Melbourne, though it's good to see 7 taking part in singles qualifying.
GB Men
One rubbish draw, one even-looking draw and one really nice draw, though whether the results will bear that out remains to be seen!
QR1: Jay Clarke WR 237 v (q1) Lorenzo Sonego ITA WR 104 (CH 86 in Oct)
Top Q seed in QR1 - ouch!
QR1: Dan Evans WR 190 v (q23) Rogerio Dutra Silva BRA WR 134 (CH 63 in 2017)
The in-form Brazilian has just won the Playford Challenger, though Dan must have a decent chance if he's up for it.
QR1: James Ward WR 187 v (wc) Maverick Banes (AUS) WR 301 (CH 216 in Aug)
Banes is 0-5 in Aus Open qualifying, though he did win a set in QR1 for the first time last year.
GB Women
QR1: Gabriella Taylor WR 189 v Kristie Ahn (USA) WR 210 (CH 105 last Jan)
These two have not played each other before.
QR1: Katie Swan WR 181 v (q4) Bianca Andreescu (CAN) WR 107 (=CH)
H2H 1-1, both in 2015 in junior Grade 1 QFs - Katie won 3&1 at Roehampton then Bianca won in 3 sets in Repentigny.
Rubbish draw but hopefully the Canadian will be at least a little tired after reaching the final in Auckland and becoming something of a star in the process. (even on CNN, they were talking about "A Canadian you won't have heard of before this week" and I'm thinking, er, yes I had!)
QR1: (q21) Harriet Dart WR 132 v Chloé Paquet (FRA) WR 224 (CH 194 in 2017)
H2H 1-0 - Harriet won convincingly, 0 & 3, in the semi-finals of Altenkirchen 25K last February, on her way to the title.
QR1: Naomi Broady WR 257 v Ysaline Bonaventure (BEL) WR 158 (CH 116 in Jul)
H2H 1-1 - Naomi won 4&5 in Glasgow in 2015 but lost 4&3 in Astana in 2017.
Broady has already had one "bonne aventure" just to get to Melbourne - Naomi was due to be one of the top seeds in the W25 ITF in Hong Kong next week but flew out at the last minute when she was up to 2nd alternate for qualifying (from 14th originally) and she has scraped in. :-) Katy Dunne was a couple of places ahead of Naomi in the qualifying alternates list and would have got in too (or instead) had she made the trip, but she withdrew some days ago.
GB Men
One rubbish draw, one even-looking draw and one really nice draw, though whether the results will bear that out remains to be seen!
QR1: Jay Clarke WR 237 v (q1) Lorenzo Sonego ITA WR 104 (CH 86 in Oct)
Top Q seed in QR1 - ouch!
QR1: Dan Evans WR 190 v (q23) Rogerio Dutra Silva BRA WR 134 (CH 63 in 2017)
The in-form Brazilian has just won the Playford Challenger, though Dan must have a decent chance if he's up for it.
QR1: James Ward WR 187 v (wc) Maverick Banes (AUS) WR 301 (CH 216 in Aug)
Banes is 0-5 in Aus Open qualifying, though he did win a set in QR1 for the first time last year.
GB Women
QR1: Gabriella Taylor WR 189 v Kristie Ahn (USA) WR 210 (CH 105 last Jan)
These two have not played each other before.
QR1: Katie Swan WR 181 v (q4) Bianca Andreescu (CAN) WR 107 (=CH)
H2H 1-1, both in 2015 in junior Grade 1 QFs - Katie won 3&1 at Roehampton then Bianca won in 3 sets in Repentigny.
Rubbish draw but hopefully the Canadian will be at least a little tired after reaching the final in Auckland and becoming something of a star in the process. (even on CNN, they were talking about "A Canadian you won't have heard of before this week" and I'm thinking, er, yes I had!)
QR1: (q21) Harriet Dart WR 132 v Chloé Paquet (FRA) WR 224 (CH 194 in 2017)
H2H 1-0 - Harriet won convincingly, 0 & 3, in the semi-finals of Altenkirchen 25K last February, on her way to the title.
QR1: Naomi Broady WR 257 v Ysaline Bonaventure (BEL) WR 158 (CH 116 in Jul)
H2H 1-1 - Naomi won 4&5 in Glasgow in 2015 but lost 4&3 in Astana in 2017.
Broady has already had one "bonne aventure" just to get to Melbourne - Naomi was due to be one of the top seeds in the W25 ITF in Hong Kong next week but flew out at the last minute when she was up to 2nd alternate for qualifying (from 14th originally) and she has scraped in. :-) Katy Dunne was a couple of places ahead of Naomi in the qualifying alternates list and would have got in too (or instead) had she made the trip, but she withdrew some days ago.